Rangers and Celtic are set for another Ibrox cup showdown, but this time there will be no mega away allocation. The SPFL does not provide a bumper 20 per cent guarantee for the Premier Sports Cup tie, months after the shameful pitch invasion scenes that marred the Scottish Cup quarter-final meeting between the sides in March.
Fixture Details and Allocation Rules
The Glasgow rivals will face off in the last eight of the Premier Sports Cup on the weekend of September 12/13, before doing battle days later at Parkhead on September 20 in the Premiership.
Following years of reduced allocations on both sides, the Scottish Cup quarter-final clash at Ibrox — which Celtic won via a penalty shootout — saw the return of full away allocations in the derby, with 8,000 travelling Celtic supporters packing out the Broomloan Stand. Scottish Cup ticketing regulations require that visiting teams are given up to 20 per cent of the available briefs, and the two clubs came to an agreement which saw thousands of Celtic fans make the trip across the city.
Current Premier Sports Cup and Premiership Rules
In years gone by, full away allocations were also present at League Cup encounters between the sides, but that is no longer the case. Current ticketing rules in the Premier Sports Cup offer no fixed guarantee of the number of tickets for visiting supporters, while in the Premiership, Celtic and Rangers have struck a reciprocal agreement of around 5 per cent of the stadium's capacity for away fans.
Impact of March's Pitch Invasion
The prospect of Celtic getting a full allocation for the cup tie has also been further complicated by events after the full-time whistle in their Scottish Cup win at Ibrox. Both clubs were hit with charges following a shameful pitch invasion, in which thousands of fans from both teams — including Rangers' Union Bears ultras group — spilled onto the pitch. Objects and pyrotechnics were launched in both directions, police were injured, and a member of Celtic's coaching staff was assaulted.
In the final league meeting between the teams at Parkhead on May 10, at a crucial stage in the Premiership title run-in, Celtic refused to hand over an allocation of 2,200 tickets to Rangers unless the Union Bears were barred.
